


Whopper

by EzraTheBlue



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fishing, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Canon, Zine: Lost in the Wild - A Gladnoct Zine (Final Fantasy XV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29912646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzraTheBlue/pseuds/EzraTheBlue
Summary: Gladio takes Noctis fishing at a nature reserve in Insomnia, and pulls in something... unexpected.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Whopper

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was originally written for the Lost in the Wild Gladnoct zine. I really wanted to write about the younger guys enjoying some time in the wild together, and also to cover a "first," of sorts. It was a wonderful project to work on!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Whopper**

There was nothing like a day out in the wilderness: pitching a tent, setting up a chair, and enjoying the fresh air while reading a good book. Gladio enjoyed the occasional escape from his duties.

Unfortunately, he was just in Insomnia’s biggest park, which was nothing like the wilderness, but for Gladio, it was the closest he’d get until he got to go outside the Wall. He was still happy to spend a weekend renting a scrap of land by the park’s artificial lake, making camp, building a fire, and reading a few chapters.

Even better, he’d convinced Noctis to come with him. Noctis loved an excuse for a fishing excursion.

“Catch a whopper, yeah?” Gladio chuckled as Noctis fitted his lure. Noctis rolled his eyes.

“I’ve never caught anything too big here. Most of the fishing holes in town are stocked, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, but this lake’s been around a while, and I’ve heard rumors of some weird fish popping up, like maybe some exotic pets that got released out here.” Gladio shrugged. “You never know until you try, right?”

“Right.” With that, Noctis strolled down the dock, grounded his heels, and cast. Gladio heard the kettle over his fire whistle, poured it onto a waiting Cup Noodle, then kicked his feet up onto his cooler. He had a copy of “The Gulls at Galdin,” a tender tale of a woman waiting for her sailor lover to return while being tempted by a local merchant, and he was going to enjoy it.

On the dock, Noctis fell into the syncopated rhythm of catch, celebrate to himself, release, and cast again. Gladio couldn’t help a little smile at the familiar noises. Then, after an hour or so, Gladio heard something strange: a strained grunt. He looked up, and saw Noctis struggling. The rod was arched further than Gladio was used to seeing, bowed deep and straining against the line. 

“This one’s giving me a real fight,” Noctis muttered, and Gladio snorted.

“Didn’t you just say there’s nothing too big around here? Come on, fight back!”

Noctis tossed his head back and planted his back heel. “Yeah, like I’m fighting you. That way, I’ll make sure I’ll win.”

Gladio laughed. “In your dreams! Fight like you’re fighting me if you wanna get pulled in and drown.” Noctis only set his jaw with determination, and Gladio grinned again. Fishing really did bring out the best in Noctis.

However, Gladio hadn’t even gotten to the end of the chapter when he heard Noctis straining again, and this time, he saw Noctis’ arms shaking, the rod jerking. “You sure you don’t need some help?”

“I got this.” Noctis sounded sure, and Gladio’s heart flared with admiration. Noctis had really come into his own over the years, much more confident than the bratty kid he’d been. The more time Gladio got to spend with him, the more he got a chance to see it.

Still, he tried to make it look like he wasn’t staring at Noctis’ flexing muscles as he fought with his line, and read on. The poor maiden was just about to be faced with the impossible choice between the love she feared losing and the love that came too easy, and Gladio’s chest ached a little as he turned the page. 

On the dock, however, Noctis’ boots skidded on the wood. “Hey, Gladio? Maybe a hand?” 

“Thought you were fighting it like you were fighting me.” Gladio grinned behind the spine of his book. 

Noctis groaned. “Yeah, but, I-” 

Whatever Noctis was about to say, it got lost in a screech of rubber, a yelp, and a _SPLASH_ , and Gladio looked up just in time to see Noctis tumbling into the water. He yelled “NOCT!”, dropped his book, bolted down the dock and dove in after him. 

Noctis was getting dragged to the deep, and Gladio swam out without giving a thought to his jacket or boots. He wrapped his arms around Noctis’ waist and threw him over his shoulder. Noctis panted in his ear, mumbling thanks and relaxing against Gladio’s chest, but Gladio could feel his arms were still tense. When he looked down at Noctis, he saw that Noctis was still gripping his rod, the line was still taut, the rod still crooked, _that fish was still on the line?!_

“Are you crazy? Let it go!”

“No way!” Noctis balefully glared at him. “You don’t want me to give up now, do you?! I could catch the easy ones or go for it, what would you do?!”

Gladio stared into Noctis’ face, the raw determination, and remembered why he loved this brat. “Let’s go for it.” 

Gladio settled Noctis into his arms, bridal style, and walked sideways for shore. Noctis gripped the rod, reeling steady and slow to draw the line in, nice and easy. Now that Gladio was anchoring Noctis, he could feel the fish pulling, as much force and weight as anything Gladio had ever faced himself. Noctis’ knuckles went white, but he still reeled with a patient, stalwart determination like nothing Gladio usually saw in their easy daily interactions. 

Sometimes, Gladio forgot that Noctis was a Prince, who had to face his duties with an iron will. When he was lackadaisically pulling in perch with ease, or slacking off around the palace, Gladio could forget. Right now, though, it was plainly clear that Noctis was every bit the Prince he’d been born to be. 

“We’ve got him now,” Noctis declared, his eyes sparkling like his magic, and maybe he was speaking it into reality. Gladio braced his feet on the lakebed’s rocks and walked towards shore, willing his words true.

“We’ve got him,” he agreed, so proud he couldn’t hold back a grin.

Gladio stepped up onto the dock and set Noctis down, lakewater and silt pouring from their clothes, but Gladio didn’t care. He braced Noctis from behind, holding him with his arms looped around his waist, as Noctis kept reeling. Gladio could see its shadow now at the end of Noctis’ line, a flash of spiny dorsal fin, shining silver scales as it thrashed at the water’s surface. Gladio felt Noctis tensing under him. “It’s right there, right there!” He yanked the rod hard to release the tension on the line as the fish kept thrashing.

“Ease up on the line!” Gladio watched the fish struggle as its shadow neared, then tugged Noctis’ pocket. “I’m gonna let go of you. Hold tight, alright?”

Noctis gave a jerky nod, and Gladio didn’t hesitate. He jumped off the dock, waded the last ten feet out, and grabbed the fish around its belly. Noctis yelled as Gladio lifted their catch over his head - a thrashing catfish bigger than Noctis.

“It’s a whopper!” Gladio announced as he stomped back up to shore, hauling the fish over his shoulder, and Noctis whooped and followed him to the campsite.

“Hang on, I gotta get a picture of this!”

“Next time you’re gonna catch something this awesome, bring Prompto!” Gladio laughed, then dangled the still-thrashing fish on the line as Noctis grabbed his phone out of the tackle box and took a snap of Gladio with the fish, then ran back and took a selfie of himself and Gladio with the fish between them. 

The field guide identified it as a Wennath Giant Catfish. It had probably been kept in a fish farm but got loose, and it had gotten fat on the wimpy trout that lived here. Now it would be the star of their evening meal, perfect to fillet, roast, and serve on top of Cup Noodles.

“Iggy said he’s checking out what’s in the Armiger and looking for _recipehs_.” Noctis chuckled as he stirred chunks of fish into his noodles later that night, beside the fire. “But that’s gonna have veggies, so this is way better.” Gladio laughed through his nose, then studied Noctis, who had been flying high even as they’d filleted the fish, their damp clothes drying on a nearby tree branch. 

“Hell of a story to tell your Dad, too.” He wagged his fork at Noctis. “You got some fight in you.”

Noctis shrugged. “It’s what you expect from me. It doesn’t change whether we’re out here or back home. Difference is, out here, I get a chance to prove it.”

“Yeah?” Gladio considered it, then thought back to his book, of the woman running away to join her sailor at sea. “Next time, don’t hesitate to let me help. I need to prove some stuff to you, too.”

Noctis snorted. “Next time, just jump in. That ‘dead-lift the fish’ thing was awesome.”

“It really was.” Gladio smiled fondly, and Noctis lit up.

No, there was nothing like a day out in the wilderness. It brought out the best in both of them, and the clear air and wild skies gave Gladio a chance to see it. Someday, when they were truly put to the test, Gladio would look back on this moment as one of many where Noctis proved why he’d earned Gladio’s admiration, and how Gladio strived to earn Noctis’ back. 

**Author's Note:**

> The "first," in case it wasn't clear, was the first time Gladio had to help Noctis reel a fish in.


End file.
